Monday, 25 March 2013

Insurance branding... Lipstick on a pig?


"If you apply (brand strategy) to all situations, whether it's business decisions or marketing, and make all decisions based on brand, your message will come out consistent." Of course, that would mean having corporate policy that's transparent and authentic--something that's in short supply in financial services. The irony, of course, is that the insurer/client relationship is all about trust, "but they refuse to make it part of the brand because they themselves don't believe it," Laura Mazzuca Toops, quoting brand strategist Tony Wessling

In Laura's January 16th article "Toops Scoops: The Big Disconnect:  Allstate and AIG's latest advertising snafus raise the question: Does insurance understand--or care--about the disconnect between what they do and what they say?" PropertyCasualty360.com, she uses a couple of recent ironic example of instances when American insurers' action and ads do not support their own brand promises.

"Allstate commercial just happened to feature a real-life New Jersey couple that is very displeased with Allstate’s $10,000 settlement offering for their home, which was totaled by Sandy."


"AIG's announcement that they might sue the federal government because they’re not happy with the terms of the bailout they were handed"



Laura uses Wessling's comments to highlight the lack of a complete brand strategy and the industries misunderstanding of social media.  Through Wessling's comments she blames senior management for neglecting brand, instead focusing only on "the numbers... even though brand awareness will ultimately drive more profits to the bottom line"

"If these companies aren't at all conscious about the way their message is coming out in such an offensive way, it's because they don’t have a comprehensive brand strategy...  If you apply (brand strategy) to all situations, whether it's business decisions or marketing, and make all decisions based on brand, your message will come out consistent." - Wessling

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